E-Paper
5 may test positive
HAS BIRD flu infected people in India? We'll know for sure on Thursday. The government is doing additional tests on five of the 95 human samples collected from Maharashtra and Gujarat to confirm whether the deadly disease has jumped over from birds to humans.
HAS BIRD flu infected people in India? We'll know for sure on Thursday. The government is doing additional tests on five of the 95 human samples collected from Maharashtra and Gujarat to confirm whether the deadly disease has jumped over from birds to humans.
"Of the 95 human samples tested, 90 are negative, but we're doing some more tests on five samples," said Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss. "We'll know when we get the results for these five by Thursday afternoon. The tests on these five people were not conclusive, so some more are being done to reach a definite conclusion."
News of these additional tests has led to speculation that scientists suspect H5N1 infection and want to reconfirm their initial findings before announcing the results.
The tests are being done at the National Institute of Virology, Pune, and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Delhi.
The good news is that the 12 people from the infected area who had the symptoms of flu are better. "The symptoms of those under observation at Navapur haven't worsened, which generally happens within four to five days of H5N1 infection," said Ramadoss.
In Maharashtra, 19,687 people living in the 3-km radius of the infected zone have been screened. There are 56 cases of flu-like symptoms but none have a history of contact with infected poultry.
In Gujarat, of the 46,000 people across 27 villages in the infected zone, 13 have been in contact with the infected poultry and six have fever. These six people have been hospitalised. None of the cullers have any symptoms of flu.
